A boat with 11 Myanmarese crew, that was apprehended by the Coast Guard on Monday near the Narcondum Island, was brought to Port Blair today and handed over to police for further investigation.

The boat was found moving under mysterious circumstances by Coast Guard patrol ships Bhikaji Cama and Rajkamal in Andaman Sea, nine miles east of the Narcondum Island.

When challenged by the Coast Guard, the boast started fleeing and the crew members were seen dumping some items into the sea. They surrendered only after Coast Guard ship fired warning shots, after a chase for about two hours.
While checking the boat, the Coast Guard found that the boat was without a name or registration number on the hull and was not flying any nation’s flag.

A large quantity of fuel and water was found in 40-50 drums and large number of used clothes were also found, that is unusual for such boats.

VHF communication sets were also found hidden in engine room of the boat. None of the crew members was having a passport and no fishing gears or cargo found on board.

The crew and its head could not explain what they were doing in Indian waters and why they tried to run away from Coast Guard and what they threw into the sea. Hence the boat was detained and brought to Port Blair.

Later a police team from the central crime station, Port Blair, took custody of the boat and crew for a joint interrogation along with security and intelligence agencies.